Implementation of 140 Gb/s true random bit generator based on a chaotic photonic integrated circuit

Abstract

In the present work a photonic integrated circuit (PIC) that emits broadband chaotic signals is employed for ultra-fast generation of true random bit sequences. Chaotic dynamics emerge from a DFB laser, accompanied by a monolithic integrated 1-cm long external cavity (EC) that provides controllable optical feedback. The short length minimizes the existence of external cavity modes, so flattened broadband spectra with minimized intrinsic periodicities can emerge. After sampling and quantization--without including optical de-correlation techniques and using most significant bits (MSB) elimination post-processing--truly random bit streams with bit-rates as high as 140 Gb/s can be generated. Finally, the extreme robustness of the random bit generator for adaptive bit-rate operation and for various operating conditions of the PIC is demonstrated.

Complex photonics: Dynamics and applications of delay-coupled semiconductors lasers

“…42, the idea behind the laser-based implementations is to digitize a chaotic analog signal Uchida et al, 2008;, taking advantage of the inherent noise in combination with chaos-induced decorrelation of the trajectory as the basis for the generation of independent bits (Mikami et al, 2012). Semiconductor lasers subject to delayed optical feedback can produce strongly diverging chaotic trajectories, thus making high bit rates possible (Argyris, Deligiannidis et al, 2010;Hirano et al, 2010;Oliver et al, 2011). The chaotic signals typically consist of irregular picosecond pulses (Fischer, van Tartwijk et al, 1996).…”

“…A systematic study of the influence of the underlying dynamics in the generation of random bits was performed (Oliver et al, 2011). In addition, an integrated compact real-time random bit generator was reported with a rate of 140 Gb=s (Argyris, Deligiannidis et al, 2010).…”

Fast random bits generation based on a single chaotic semiconductor ring laser

“…The fact that the numerical bit-streams generated from noiseless simulations passed all tests suggests at least two conclusions: First, successful multi-bit extraction using ADCs shows that the chaotic waveforms are sufficient to random bit generation. Second, this also evidences that by employing post-processing methods such as derivative [11] or ADC [8,10] methods, chaos with relative low bandwidth can effectively lead to ultra-fast random numbers generation, even without any additional non-deterministic entropy source (noise).…”

“…Continuous streams of random bit sequences have been generated at fast rates of up to several Gbit/s in real time by directly sampling the output of two chaotic semiconductor lasers with one-bit analog-digital converters (ADCs) [6][7][8]. Subsequently, the efforts to further increase the bit rate [12] or/and to implement more simplified architectures [9][10][11][12][13] have been reported, by using 8-bit ADCs to sample the chaotic signal and to extract multi-bits in order to form the single random sequence.…”

Physical Random Number Generations and Photonic Integrated Circuits for Chaotic Generators

“…Several methods to realize high-speed random number generations have been proposed (Reidler et al 2009;Argyris et al 2010b;Hirano et al 2010 andKanter et al 2010). Since typical chaotic oscillations in semiconductor laser is related to the relaxation oscillation frequency, the use of a laser which has a fast relaxation oscillation frequency is essential.…”